“Dependency” by Tove Ditlevsen, stung bride – Libération

The book by the Danish novelist and poet is the final part of her “Copenhagen Trilogy”, an autobiographical fresco. This volume, which begins during the German occupation, is a series of marriages and addictions.

With Dependence ends the translation of “The Copenhagen Trilogy”, which allowed us to rediscover the Danish novelist and poet Tove Ditlevsen (1917-1976). In the original version, the title is Gifta word that means both “bride” and “poison”. In this final part of her memoir, published in 1971, Ditlevsen recounts how she married four times and how she fell into addiction.

Her first husband was Viggo F. Moller. He published his poems in the magazine Wild wheat. We saw in volume II, Youththat it got her fired from her job at the National Wheat Bureau. Mistaking it for an agricultural magazine, the boss bought it and did not appreciate coming across verses from the 20-year-old girl. Then Viggo F., as he is called, suggested that he publish a collection. It will be A young girl. “My heart beats as if I were in love, and I examine this man who is the source of such happiness in me. He sits on the other side of the table, covered with a bottle green tablecloth. We drink tea from green cups. The curtains are green, the vases and pots are green, and the editor-in-chief is dressed in green.» Volume III begins with this: “Everything is green in the living room, walls, carpets, curtains, and I always feel like a prisoner of an image.” It is May 1940. The German occupation began in April.

There is nothing immoral about using others

Viggo F. is thirty years older than her. It opens up to her the world she has dreamed of all along.